Con Diary: Reflections on SDCC 2016 by Alyssa

As folks may know if they follow the forum, my main mission @ SDCC was to attend the Star Trek Beyond premiere, as such most of my preview night day was devoted to lining up for a chance at wrist bands.

On my second attempt through the line I pulled a winning ticket. Since the event provided winners with two pairs of tickets I was able to bring the FoCC’s Editor-in-Chief, Kevin aka DRWHO42, as my +1. Obviously we’re missing Kevin in this pic.

Due to a fluke keeping my ears open, I was able to get a couple of seats in the third row.

We were then treated to Fireworks & Lasers, after which the movie began.

The movie is a worthy installment into the Trek family, a good blend of action and character development. The entire night was the highlight of my con with the cast, the live symphony & excellent sound system. The swag bag was excellent too.

Thursday and Friday mostly were devoted to exclusives, off sites, meet ups & putting the time into the Hall H line.
I tried in vain for the Funko Duck… /sigh/ but got an Antman Lego mini fig, still looking for the Cap Lego mini fig. Friday dawned & I tried again for a good Funko wrist band…../sigh/.

Friday night was packed due to having bought a Funko Funday ticket a month prior to con and a generous forum member who kindly invite me & Zero to the Friday night taping of Conan. The Conan taping was fun- I enjoyed it- plus it didn’t hurt that the guests were the Game of Thrones actors.

This was quickly followed by the Funko Funday party. I also briefly attended the party last year. I liked the format better this year, there was much less ‘throwing of prizes’ and a mostly even distribution of prizes. Unfortunately I needed to duck out for a bit to collect my Saturday Hall H wrist band but got back in time for the majority of the event. A few folks have asked what I got at the party – 4 Freddy pops, 1 Proto, a Mega Dorbz and a t-shirt.

Earlier on Friday I was also able to attend my CupOTea Hangout co-host’s delightful and informative panel, The British Invasion: Spirit of ’86.

For the Saturday Hall H panels – The highlight of the WB panel was the Wonder Woman segment & trailer. All though the Aqua-man segment looked pretty awesome too! WB opened the curtains for the full wrap around – very immersive.

The day ended with the Marvel panel. The Black Panther cast was introduced.

The next segment was Dr Strange …

and Spiderman …

followed by Guardians of the Galaxy…

then we were treated to everyone onstage to welcome Captain Marvel.

Sunday was the Marvel Unlimited Plus panel & last minute shopping for exclusives. I may or may not have dropped some serious money on a few Mondos and a signed photo of Leonard Nimoy as Spock 😉

Con ended with the Talk Back panel.

On Monday, Leonard and I held a Reflections CupOTea Hangout on a boat. It was massively fun having a bunch of folks join us to share their thoughts on SDCC’16. Here’s a link to the SDCC’16 Recap

photo credit Chuck@chuckcookphoto.com

Here’s a pic with my SDCCfit buddy, CorgiKohmander. We’ve both lost a significant amount of weight, I think we’re both in the ‘lost 50lb’ category.
I have to say, I am so very glad I started SDCCfit last fall. While at the end of con, I was tired but my legs weren’t in pain. I even found myself sprinting (for me) to meet a friend on Monday. 30 min’s 4-5 times on the tread mill per week equals no pain at con.

I will be hosting a solo hangout discussing Con Fit and how it’s improved our con’s plus a bit more about SDCC. My special guest is Jeff from The Mighty Jerd.
The hangout will be on Aug 7th @ 10am PT & 1pm ET at the Englishman in San Diego’s site. Click here to watch.

Personally, I radically changed my con this year. I went from staying in Chula Vista & driving in each day to staying down town. From focusing on exclusives to the big events & panels. It was a very different con for me compared to last year. I enjoyed the change but find it’s hard to equate last years con to this years con due to my personal filters and yes, my being in much better condition too.

To my mind this proves the idea, if you’re not as thrilled with your con change it up and go for the autographs/events/small panels/exclusives. My motto this con has been, ‘I can’t win if i don’t play the game’ and it paid off big time.

Word of warning the following picture is the saddest one…….. #Idon’ttravellight

To see what other attendees are saying about SDCC 2016 on the FoCC forum and share your review of the con click here.

Alyssa

Alyssa bought her first comic at age 7 & was hooked. She has collected comics most of her life. Recently she has branched out to comic art and books and the occasional Lego. She goes to as many con's as she can & enjoys the 'long form' story telling of TV. She also enjoys new kinds of food- yes, she is a foodie.

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